The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) by 61.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,529 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.06% of The Shyft Group worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in The Shyft Group by 301.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 5,801 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in The Shyft Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 706,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,682 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in The Shyft Group by 1,062.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 18,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 16,888 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in The Shyft Group by 257.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 32,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Shyft Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 773,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,705,000 after purchasing an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson raised The Shyft Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

The Shyft Group Stock Up 0.5 %

The Shyft Group stock opened at $7.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The Shyft Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.05 and a 1-year high of $17.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.42. The company has a market capitalization of $258.15 million, a P/E ratio of -82.10 and a beta of 1.83.

The Shyft Group (NASDAQ:SHYF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $201.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.90 million. The Shyft Group had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 2.75%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Shyft Group, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Shyft Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. The Shyft Group’s payout ratio is presently -222.22%.

About The Shyft Group

The Shyft Group, Inc engages in the manufacture and assembly of specialty vehicles for the commercial and recreational vehicle industries in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Fleet Vehicles and Services, and Specialty Vehicles. The Fleet Vehicles and Services segment offers commercial vehicles used in the e-commerce/last mile/parcel delivery, beverage and grocery delivery, laundry and linen, mobile retail, and trades and construction industries.